Bebop Blues

Chapter 27: Odd Ones

Mai roused quickly.

Faye and Spike were by her side; Spike was already on his feet.

Roy and the mystery bundle were gone.

"The fuck?" she yelled.

"Bastard likes his explosives," Spike commented, rubbing his head. He outstretched a hand to help up Faye, who refused and took Mai's hand instead.

Their coms sounded.

"You want to see what all the commotion's about, my little dragon?" Victor's voice purred.

"Spike! Faye! Everything alright? We lost contact for a second there," Jet's voice was frantic and laced with static.

Shock grenade.

"We're fine! Roy and Rin are gone," Faye answered.

Mai felt distinctly out of place.

"We need to find Victor," she stated.

Faye and Spike nodded at her.

They ran towards the console room again.

They had never expected the Silver Snake Syndicate base to be so large.

Victor had been banking on that.

Men dashed after them as they rounded the corner.

Nameless, faceless drones without souls.

The bottom of the barrel of the universe's lowest scum.

Not too many people dabbled in Syndicate work these days.

Not when Syndicate members of old were being offed left and right.

These men, then, were criminals, bounties, and outlaws. They were low-life thugs trying to make a final mark in criminal history.

They had some sort of death wish.

They reached the console room quickly.

And the battle that ensued was unexpected.

Faye took shots with liberty, and Spike did the same.

But Mai felt distinctly out of place.

She watched the two of them shoot and fight, the way their guns synced direction, the flow of their wrists as the punched, the speed of their legs as they swung their kicks.

The men hadn't noticed her.

She had been the last to walk into the room.

But by the time she was a figure of attention, Faye was at her side, kicking and punching and shooting with precision.

A jive of her own.

Spike smirked a bit when he would observe Faye.

And Mai felt as though she were breaching something intimate.

As though Spike and Faye were practically dancing that timeless waltz right in front of her very eyes.

As the last man fell, Victor's face appeared ominously on the console projector screen.

"Pixie, I'll make you a deal."

Faye's expression changed instantly. "It's Faye," she chastised.

"I'll give you Rin, but you leave the Spiegel brood behind."

"And Roy?" Mai asked.

"He's alive. I won't kill you," he answered.

"And we can believe you...?" Mai's question sounded irritated.

But Faye was already running to the coordinates Victor had sent.

And Spike yanked Mai's wrist to run after her.

They were nearly caught up.

Bang.